There are just some dishes that are almost universally satisfying… and roast chicken must be one of them. Whether done on a fancy rotisserie in your oven or barbecue, over a charcoal pit, etc., the flavor of the charred skin and the blandish but hopefully juicy meat is familiar to millions of folks around the world. Maybe a couple of hundred years ago it was duck, pheasant, pigeon, and other fowl, with a stronger flavor profile… but today it’s more likely farm raised chicken.

We simply stuffed four chickens with some onions, garlic, lemongrass, salt and pepper and basted them with lard and turned them over hot coals for about 40 minutes until cooked. Do a last minute brush on marinade of soy sauce and kalamansi if you want to brown them more evenly…

COMMENTS:

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Kelly
says:

Extra rice, please! :)

Aug 20, 2012 | 12:00 pm

EbbaBlue
says:

For dinner, we had slow roasted beef ribs, ayyy ang dami kong nakain. I told myself, I can’t think of anymore food. But, when I open your site and saw this picture, gosh, I salivated (even though its 11:15 night).

Happy Birthday, MM! I wonder how these lechon manok stalls all over the metropolis can’t get this primitively simple dish right? The way you describe it, it’s so straightforward and no B.S., which is precisely what gives this style of roast chicken its flavorful charm.

Papa Ethan, many lechon manok places rely on a brine, usually heavy with salt and sugar, to keep meat juicy. Nothing wrong with a brine, but if it has too much sugar, it overwhelms. Worse, I find many are just swimming in MSG as well. I like several of the lechon manok places, but I think since cost/price are carefully watched, the temptation to take short cuts is strong…

Aug 20, 2012 | 3:31 pm

Rochelle
says:

Yummy MM! :) Happy Birthday to you! :)

Aug 20, 2012 | 4:34 pm

Papa Ethan
says:

MM, I guess you’re right about the brine. Maybe that explains the “juice” that oozes out from the chicken when it’s chopped, and it does taste mediciney and overwhelming. A newcomer lechon manok brand was great-tasting for a while, but as soon as they expanded into multiple branches, the quality quickly deteriorated. Oh well…

Aug 20, 2012 | 5:52 pm

millet
says:

happy birthday, MM! nice to see the chickens are cooked through….a frequent bummer for chicken barbecue is when there are bloody areas around the bones.

here’s wishing you more posts, more eats, more discoveries, and more love all around!